Never Forgotten
by KrazyKaleigh
Summary: Everybody needs a Guardian sometimes. RIP, Newton Connecticut. Tribute to kids and adults lost in the shooting.


Never Forget

**Kaleigh: I just thought this whole thing was really just unimaginable. Those kids... they were just kids. It's disgusting. As a side note, when I finished writing this it turned out to be Tooth/Jack, so if you don't like them... Yeah. **

"Jack. Jack. Jack." a voice repeated his name over and over again.

"W-what?" Exhausted, he opened one eye to see none other than Tooth hovering over him. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Y-you have t-to see this," her voice cracked.

"What?" Jack asked again, but Tooth payed him no heed, instead pulling him up and dragging him out the window. "Okay then, don't tell me," Jack muttered irritably. A tear slipped down Tooth's face and Jack instantly felt bad. This must be really something.

They landed in a small town called Newton in Connecticut.

What were they doing in Connecticut?

North, Bunny, and Sandy were all there, too, looking slightly horrified and a great deal sad. What happened to this place?

Jack voiced his thoughts, "What happened? Why are we here?"

North muttered something about a great tradgedy. Pictures flashed above Sandy's head faster than Jack could begin to comprehend.

"Just go inside an' see for yourself, mate." Bunnymund, the forever steel Pooka, was actually depressed. He nodded towards a school. There was a scream of true inner pain.

"NO! HE CAN'T BE DEAD!"

Tooth burst into tears. With nothing else to do at the moment, Jack cautiously walked into the cold building, anxiousness making him float two or three inches off the ground.

It was a school, a children's school. Jack could tell it had once been a happy place, but was now home to fear. Lots of fear. He peeked into a room and regretted it immediately.

There were two children, and two adult cops. But something was wrong. The kids weren't moving. And there were... bullets, Jack realized, shuddering, stuck in them all over. He doubled over with the realization.

"Twenty-eight dead," Jack heard one policeman say to the other. Jack froze.

"Twenty kids," the other replied sadly, while the first one winced.

Jack's heart stopped in his frozen chest. Twenty kids. Twenty kids dead. Twenty kids who would never see snow again. Twenty kids that would never see another Christmas, another Easter, never lose another tooth... never have another dream.

Twenty kids HE was supposed to protect.

Jack sank down to the floor slowly. The Man in the Moon was all wrong. Jack wasn't a Guardian. He'd failed these kids. He prayed for someone to take away everything and just leave him there, forever, to sink lower and lower.

He couldn't cry. He wouldn't.

To hell with that idea. Tears rolled down his cheeks, each one reminding him painfully of another kid HE should've been there for.

Sobs racked his body, making him shake uncontrollably. He didn't know how long he was there, but all of a sudden, Tooth was beside him.

"Jack..." she sighed.

"TWENTY!" he shouted in anguish, "TWENTY, Tooth! Twenty kids I was supposed to protect!"

"Jack," she said, "Calm down one second. It's not your fault."

Jack shook his head, "Tooth, it's ALL my fault."

"Jackson Overland Frost, look at me THIS MINUTE!" Startled, Jack looked at Tooth. Her violet eyes were filled with tears.

"No matter how hard we try, or how good we do," she told him in a broken voice, "There will always be evil in the world. There just WILL, like there will always be fear." She stared into his icy blue eyes, "We can't be everywhere. We can't save everyone. We can't."

"I could've saved them," Jack argued, eyes closed, "I could've frozen the gunman. I could've done something. Instead of nothing."

"No, you couldn't have." Tooth took his hands and stood up. He followed her. And stared into her eyes.

And kissed her.

When they broke apart, Jack was already mumbling incoherently. "It's fine," Tooth shushed him, "Because we know there is always good, too. Just like there's hope to balance out fear."

And he kissed her again. Because he could, and plus, he was pretty sure he liked her at this point.

**Kaleigh: Eh, I guess it turned out to be Tooth/Jack in the end. *laughs tiredly* I just love them. **


End file.
